


Thunderous Blaze

by MysticDeadman



Series: Learning to Fight [7]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Cross-Posted on deviantArt, Fighting, Martial Arts, Mixed Martial Arts, Original Character(s), Sparring, taekwondo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-06
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29247378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticDeadman/pseuds/MysticDeadman
Summary: This is a gifted work for https://twitter.com/KingpinThawne , featuring his character, Tanya Blaze, and my character, Hisui "Jade" Powers.For reference, Tanya Blaze: https://www.deviantart.com/kingsonic99/art/OC-Tanya-Blaze-864715175Hisui "Jade" Powers: https://www.deviantart.com/mysticdeadman/art/Martial-Law-Hisui-Powers-845360031
Series: Learning to Fight [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684456





	Thunderous Blaze

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gifted work for https://twitter.com/KingpinThawne , featuring his character, Tanya Blaze, and my character, Hisui "Jade" Powers.
> 
> For reference, Tanya Blaze: https://www.deviantart.com/kingsonic99/art/OC-Tanya-Blaze-864715175  
> Hisui "Jade" Powers: https://www.deviantart.com/mysticdeadman/art/Martial-Law-Hisui-Powers-845360031

Tanya Blaze stood outside the Tiger Way Martial Arts Academy, looking through the windows at the class currently running. She shifted the bag under her arm a little bit, getting it to a more comfortable position.

“So,” she said to herself, “this is where that girl trains, huh? Seems like a McDojo to me.”

She took her cell phone out of her pocket, checking the time on it.

“Demo’s supposed to start soon. Maybe she’ll put on a good show.”

A few minutes later, Tanya found herself in a crowd of people, all of them watching with great interest. A buzz emanated from the crowd, excitement building for the show that was taking place soon. She watched as several students in blue and black demonstration uniforms filed in. The crowd began to cheer, but Tanya herself yawned a little. The demo team’s coach soon began speaking, introducing his team. Most of the team members were male, though one in particular caught Tanya’s eye.

The one she’d come to see.

There she stood, wearing the same uniform as everyone else, though not quite the same expression. While most of the guys around her were excited to be there, Tanya could almost see a hint of anger in the girl’s hazel eyes. Tanya tuned the speaker out, focused on the girl that she was sure hadn’t noticed her yet.

_ Alright then, Hisui Powers, let’s see what you can do. _

As the team’s coach finished his introduction, the members began to move, rearranging themselves into the first of their formations. Music began playing from a nearby speaker system, and the team began their demonstration. The group performed various techniques, punching, kicking, and blocking in rhythm with the tune. After a few moves, they shifted around again. One boy lifted himself onto the shoulders of another, while a third knelt down a couple of feet in front of them. The two boys in the tower each held a board in one hand, though only the boy on top held his out.

Hisui settled herself a few steps away from the crouching boy, who held his arms out in front of him. Hisui closed her eyes, taking in a few deep breaths. When she was ready, she gave a shout. She ran forward, jumping forward onto the crouching boy’s arms. The boy pushed her upward, springing her high into the air. As she sailed higher and higher, Hisui lifted her leg into a front kick that reached above her head. Her foot snapped the board cleanly in two, to the cheers of the crowd. As she descended, however, she brought her kicking foot down hard, into the pine board of the boy held by the boy at the bottom of the tower. The crowd’s cheering grew with that last break. Hisui and her teammates quickly lined up, giving the crowd a bow before being joined by the rest of the team.

_ Not bad, _ Tanya thought.  _ Not too bad at all. _

Several minutes later, the show had ended. Hisui did a couple more breaks, but those weren’t nearly as interesting as her first. Just a couple of spin-kick combos, and one where she broke three boards in one motion. Nothing one wouldn’t see any other taekwondo school do in a mall demo. Tanya waited outside the school, interested in seeing more of her target. She didn’t have to wait long, as Hisui quickly left the school, a duffel bag similar to Tanya’s slung over her back. Hisui didn’t even notice the girl watching her as she started her walk home. Tanya waited a bit, letting Hisui put distance between the two before walking after her. The two walked for a few blocks without any houses in sight, making Tanya question the girl in front of her.

_ How far away does this girl live? Does she always walk home in a city as big as this? _

Her thoughts were cut off, though, as something caught her eye. As the two girls walked down a particularly empty street, a trio of thugs emerged from the alleyway, surrounding Hisui. Tanya quickly ducked behind a corner, her eyes nearly bulging with excitement.

_ Here we go! _

Tanya couldn’t hear what the three were saying, but it wasn’t too hard to figure out; they were clearly harassing the young woman, and she clearly wasn’t having it. Tanya smiled as she watched Hisui slap one of them hard in the face. He didn’t take to it too kindly, though, and quickly answered with a strike of his own. The blow made Hisui stumble, causing one of the other guys to grab her by the arm. Hisui quickly recovered, and threw a kick at her captor’s side. The blow connected, sending him stumbling. Hisui, however, was blindsided by a clothesline from behind, which knocked her to the ground. The man that had attacked her from behind lifted her off the ground, holding her arms tight behind her back.

“Let me go!” Hisui cried out, struggling against her captor. Tanya didn’t need much more motivation than that. She dropped her bag and ran for the group.

Hisui pulled and pulled as much as she could. The man holding her, however, managed to keep her arms bound, stopping her from getting any leverage to wrench herself free.

“Now, now,” The man she’d slapped said, stepping forward and cracking his knuckles, “if you’d just done what we asked and come with us, this wouldn’t be happening. You wouldn’t have to get hurt. Now just relax, and let what’s about to happen, happen.”

“Heads up!”

All four turned to the source of the new voice. One of them regretted it immediately, as a foot quickly closed in on him. The kick from the airborne Tanya caught him in the center of his face, sending him crumpling to the ground with a thin trail of blood following behind. The three stared as Tanya landed. She quickly turned to face the thug whose hands were still free. With a smirk, she raised a hand at him, flexing her fingers in the universal sign:

“ _ Come and get some.” _

The man took a quick glance at his fallen friend. Sure, she’d knocked him out pretty easily, but it was a sneak attack. She totally jumped him when he wasn’t ready for it. Besides, she wasn’t any bigger than the other girl. He was ready for her. He could take her! He was gonna make her pay for what she did!

With a motivating shout, he charged at her, pulling a fist way back behind his head. Tanya’s smirk never faded. In fact, if the man had paid attention to her, he would’ve seen her smirk get even cockier than it was before. Just as he was close enough to throw the punch he wound up, she took a quick step to the side. He threw the punch before he could process what was happening, and was never prepared for the kick that was delivered to the back of his knee. He jerked down off-balance with a grunt of pain. His flailing kept him from being able to defend himself from the fingers that laced themselves through his hair and pulled his head back. Tanya forced him to look her in the eyes as she pulled his head back.

“Thanks for trying, though.”

And with that, Tanya delivered a sharp knife-hand strike to his throat. The man choked for a split second before the force of the attack sent him sharply to the ground, his head slamming hard enough to knock him out cold.

Meanwhile, Hisui realized what was happening before the man holding her did. Noticing that he was distracted with seeing his partner being picked apart so easily, Hisui struck. She raised one leg as quickly as she could, slamming it into a rather sensitive place with as much force as she could. The attack worked its charm, forcing the man to release her and curl up in place. Hisui then jumped up, spinning in the air and bringing her foot around in a vicious spinning kick. The kick sent the man spinning to the ground, and he joined his friends in unconsciousness.

Hisui watched the man she’d just put down for a few more seconds, making sure he was actually down for the count. Once she was satisfied, she took a deep breath to force her nerves to settle down.

“That was pretty easy,” Tanya said, patting her hands. She turned toward Hisui, who had just relaxed her stance. “Sorry about stepping in like that. I don’t like seeing people get ganged up on like that, and it seemed like you were having a little trouble.”

Hisui whirled around, seeing the girl who had come to her rescue walking up to her. Just as Tanya reached her, Hisui glared at her.

“What the hell?!”

Tanya stopped dead in her tracks, blinking in confusion. “Oh? What’s wrong?”

“I said, ‘what the hell’? I didn’t need your help! I had that completely under control!”

Tanya folded her arms. “Honestly, not from where I was standing. Those guys didn’t even look like they’d taken a single martial arts class, yet you let some easily avoidable hits land. If I hadn’t gotten involved, you probably would’ve gotten hurt pretty badly.”

She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s fine, though. You’re okay, and these guys are down. I wouldn’t let it get to you. I’d say, if anything, that you should just train more.”

Hisui sputtered for a second. “’Train mo--’, what the hell do you mean, ‘train more’?” For your information, I’ve been training in Taekwondo since I was three!”

“Oof,” Tanya said, a smile crossing her lips, “Since three, huh? That makes it even more surprising that you had such a hard time with these guys. Must’ve just gotten that black belt yesterday, huh?”

“Shut up!” Hisui shouted, stomping her foot, “I don’t spar a whole lot, okay?! Especially not against a group of people! I’d rather break boards, anyway!”

“Wow, that explains things even more. Thank goodness I got involved, otherwise that would’ve gotten even worse for you.”

Hisui threw her hands in the air, groaning exasperatedly.

“Oh my God!”

“What’s up?” Tanya asked, “You seem like you’re pretty easily triggered.”

“I get that a lot,” Hisui said, picking her duffel bag up off the ground, “I have too much shit to deal with in my life, and I didn’t get enough stress relief in my breaking demo.”

If she had a mirror in front of her, Tanya could’ve seen the sparkle that immediately grew in her eyes.

“Oh yeah? Still stressed out, huh? Well then, why don’t you relieve that stress with me? Let’s spar!”

Hisui lifted her bag onto her shoulder. She stood still for a moment, considering the offer.

“You know what? Yeah, sure. I owe you an ass-kicking for making me look weak.”

Tanya chuckled. “I didn’t make you look weak, though. You kinda did that to yourself.”

“...I can’t wait to crack your jaw and make you shut up.”

Another chuckle. “Heh, you won’t even get the chance, kid. Tell you what, though,” Tanya gave their surroundings a quick look, “I’m not a fan of just fighting out in the middle of the street. Not for a sparring session, anyway.”

Hisui huffed. “Fine, whatever. My dojang isn’t too far from here. We can do this there.”

“Yeah, I know,” Hisui raised an eyebrow at that, “I was at your demo earlier, calm down. Since you’re the one from this city, why don’t you lead the way?”

“Fine, whatever. Let’s go.”

“Sure thing, but,” Tanya said with a hint of embarrassment, “I, uh, just gotta go get my bag real quick.”

* * *

The way back to the Tiger Way Academy didn’t take nearly as long for either girl as it did to leave it, though neither were really thinking about the trip back. Their thoughts were on the other girl, but with slightly different motivations.

Hisui practically stomped her way back to the Academy, while Tanya followed in behind her, arms folded behind her head and a wide smile on her face. Once the two had arrived, it only took Hisui a moment to convince one of the owners to let her and Tanya borrow one of the empty training rooms toward the back. Tanya took a moment to take a look around her. The Academy was bigger than she originally thought, considering that this spare room was as big as the main training hall in the front. Three of the walls were lined with mirrors, while the back wall had windows instead. The floor was lined with thin foam mats, which led Tanya to the conclusion that this room was intended for sparring practice.

_ This town must really like the martial arts. My kind of place. _

“Hey,” Tanya said, “I need to change before we do this. Got a place nearby I can use?”

“Over there,” Hisui said, pointing to a set of doors on one side of the room. “You can change in one of those rooms. I’ll take the other.”

Tanya grinned menacingly. “What, ya scared ya might like what you see?”

Hisui rolled her eyes, but didn’t answer. Tanya snickered a little, walking toward the doors. Just as she passed Hisui, she patted her hard on the shoulder.

“You gotta lighten up a little.”

Hisui just grumbled, watching as Tanya entered one room before going to the other.

Several minutes later, Tanya emerged from her changing room, her street clothes having been replaced with her training uniform: a heavy, gray gi top and pants with a black undershirt. She wore red training gloves over her hands, and she’d taken the time to wrap her feet and ankles in tape. She tightened the black belt around her waist as she walked into the main room, her smirk still stretched across her lips.

“Alright then,” she said to herself, “maybe now we’ll get to have a little fun.”

Meanwhile, Hisui stood in her dressing room. She’d started to change into her traditional dobok, but stopped partway through.

_ Who does she think she is?! That girl made me look like an ass out there! _

She threw the t-shirt she’d been wearing across the room, hard.

_ Whatever, I can just ruin her day by kicking her ass, then move on. _

Tanya stretched out her legs as she waited, alternating from one to the other.

“Geez, how long does it take to change?”

Hisui sat on the bench in her room, her head in her hands. She pressed her fingers hard into her skull.

“Dammit, I did not need this to happen today. Why does shit like this always happen to me?”

Tanya stood in the room, arms crossed and foot tapping.

_ Did she just straight up forget about the fight? _ She sighed heavily.  _ Oh well, I guess we’re not doing this after all. _

She started to make her way back to the dressing room. After a couple of steps, however, the door to Hisui’s room flung open. Said Taekwondo student stood in the doorway, fully dressed in her uniform. Unlike Tanya, Hisui’s hands and feet were completely bare, a fact that Tanya noticed.

“No protection?”

Hisui huffed. “I’ll be fine.”

Tanya shrugged playfully. “Suit yourself. Take a minute to warm up if you need it.”

Hisui didn’t answer, but she took up Tanya’s suggestion and went through a few warm-up stretches. Tanya took notice of Hisui’s exceptional flexibility as the girl fell into a deep split on the ground.

_ That’s pretty neat. _

Once Hisui felt she was ready, she got to her feet, glaring sharply at Tanya.

“Why were you following me?”

Tanya blinked, confusedly. “What?”

“You heard me. Why were you following me

“Honestly, because you’re interesting,” Tanya said.

“Why? What makes me interesting to you?”

“Because.”

Hisui felt her face redden in rage. “Because why?”

Tanya chuckled, shaking a hand. “You mean you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Huh, that’s funny. You’d think that someone with a reputation like yours would know about it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Hisui asked, confused, “What reputation?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Tanya said. She then used the hand she shook to point at the taekwondo fighter, “Just that there’s a young Taekwondo prodigy coming up in the world. She specializes in board breaking and flashy demos, but there’s talk that if she applied herself, she could be a fierce tourney competitor.

“I came down here to see what this girl’s capable of for myself. And I gotta say, for such a rigid style, I like what I’ve seen. You really could be a great circuit fighter if you really applied yourself.”

Hisui blushed slightly. “I never heard any of that before.”

“Well, now you have. So, you ready to do this, or what?”

Hisui nodded, pulling the ends of her belt. “Yeah.”

“Okay, rules. One: No dirty moves. No going below the belt, no shots to the eyes or throat. We’re sparring, not brawling.”

Hisui nodded. “Fair enough.”

“Two: No points. My style doesn’t do point sparring. We go until one of us can’t anymore.”

That one made Hisui falter a little. “Okay.”

“And three: No holding back. I wanna see what you got.”

For the first time, Hisui smiled. “Yeah, that one I can get behind. Let’s do this.”

“Before we do, though,” Tanya said, “Let’s make things a little more interesting.”

Hisui raised an eyebrow to that. “How?”

“Let’s make a little bet. If you win, I’ll admit I was wrong. I’ll admit that you would’ve been able to handle that mugging on your own, and that you’re more skilled at fighting than I thought.”

A nod. “Yeah, I’ll agree to that much. So, what do you get if you win?”

Tanya scratched at her cheek, looking up to the ceiling in thought. She shrugged.

“I dunno. I guess I could give you a few pointers to help out.”

Hisui’s smile faded, giving way to another scowl.

“Oh sure, because that’s what I want. To get tips from someone who thinks she’s better than me and wants to rub it into my face.”

“Hey, I never said that. You’re putting words in my mouth.”

“I’ll put my fist in your mouth next.”

Tanya put her hands up. “Hey now. What’re you so angry about? This is just a friendly sparring match, ya know?”

Hisui crossed her arms. “Sparring? Sure. Friendly? Not so much.”

“Sheesh. And I thought Rebecca was a rude hothead. Shouldn't be too surprised, though. You still haven’t thanked me for stepping in back there.”

Hisui settled back into a fighting stance, one arm lifted to her waist.

“Oh, I’ll thank you all right. I’ll thank you so hard, you’ll think twice about calling me weak again!”

Tanya grinned, shaking a finger in a ‘no’ gesture. “I never called you weak, though. You’re sure sounding weak with all this big talk you keep giving.”

“’Never call--’,” Hisui sputtered, “Are you serious?! Then what the hell was that comment about my belt earlier?!”

“Just a little light-hearted teasing. Funny that you took that comment to heart, though,” Tanya folded her arms in front of her. “Ever fought anyone for real, before? Or is breaking weak boards the only thing you’re good at?”

“Yeah, I do some sparring, just not a whole lot. I don’t want to do to other people what I’m going to do to you.”

Tanya chuckled. “You sure? Maybe your win-loss record is just bad.”

“Shut up already!”

“God, you’re easy. Anyone ever tell you, you should work on that?”

“No, as a matter of fact, they haven’t. They usually know to leave me alone when I’m angry. And a lot of boards. They leave me alone with a lot of boards.”

Another chuckle. “You should try not being so angry. That’s gonna make you go blind during a fight. Kinda like what happened with those guys.”

Hisui’s scowl deepened. “What, you’re telling me you wouldn’t get pissed off if some random assholes started hitting on you?”

Tanya shrugged at that. “Eh, not really. I’d just kick their asses pretty effortlessly. Especially once I saw just how ‘good’ at fighting they were.”

“...you know what? Let’s just do this. I got too much shit to do for school after this.”

“Alright then.” Tanya unfolded her arms, bringing them to her sides and bowing deeply. Hisui, taken off guard by the act, drops her stance and does the same. When they finished their bows, Hisui took up her fighting stance again while Tanya crossed her arms.

“Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Hisui began bouncing on her toes, watching Tanya as closely as she could. The silver-haired fighter locked eyes with her, a smile on her face. She didn’t budge, however, which frustrated Hisui.

_ Why is she just standing there? She’s just wide open! _

“Come on then,” Tanya said, “First shot’s yours.”

Hisui huffed. “Fine!”

With that, she stepped in quickly, When she was close enough, she whirled around on one foot, lifting her other leg into the air. She whipped her lifted leg out, firing a fast kick to Tanya’s head. Tanya clicked her tongue as the attack came in. Her hand moved almost too quickly for Hisui to see, catching the Taekwondo fighter’s kicking leg. She then fired her own kick low, sweeping at Hisui’s grounded leg. The counter caught Hisui off-guard, dropping her hard on her backside with a pained grunt.

“Heh,” Tanya said, “Predictable.”

“Dammit,” Hisui growled, quickly getting back up to her feet. She took a couple of steps back, putting distance between the two fighters.

Tanya returned to her original stance, yawning as loudly as she could.

“Is that all you’ve got?” she asked, her smile having faded with the yawn, “I’m getting bored over here. Starting to regret accepting this challenge.”

Another growl, another charge. This time, Hisui aimed low, trying to take out one of Tanya’s legs. Instead, she was surprised again as Tanya easily leaped over her attack, bopping her on the head with a light knife-hand strike. Hisui yelped, stumbling back a bit, more in surprise than in pain. Tanya landed on her feet, crossing her arms and looking back at Hisui with slight disappointment.

“Never really been a fan of Taekwondo. Those fighters always go for the big, flashy moves. They’re always leaving themselves wide open. Like you, for example.”

“Shut up! Stop screwing around and fight me!”

Hisui charged in once again, this time trying for something different. She motioned for another low kick, which Tanya saw coming. The plan was to get her to jump over the low to evade it, only for Hisui to fake the low and catch her in the air with a kick.

Instead, Tanya simply raised the leg that Hisui aimed at. When she did, Hisui didn’t process Tanya’s action and continued with her fake. The high kick that came ended up being caught again and, just like the time before, was met with a sweep of Hisui’s planted leg.

“Huh, deja vu.”

A fresh wave of anger washes over Hisui, causing her to wildly kick at Tanya’s legs. The older fighter simply jumped back, sticking her tongue out at the TKD fighter.

Hisui got to her feet, breathing heavily from exhaustion.

“Dammit! Why won’t you take this seriously?!”

Tanya laughed. “Already out of stamina, huh? We just started! You really don’t do a whole lot of sparring, huh?”

Hisui wiped a bit of sweat from her forehead. “I really don’t care for you right now.”

Another snicker. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”

“You can get something else while you’re at it!”

Hisui leaped forward, throwing a punch toward Tanya’s face. Tanya effortlessly caught the blow, twisting Hisui’s wrist. Tanya then flicked Hisui on the forehead.

“Come on, kid. Enough with the big talk already.”

Hisui chose not to reply, instead using her free hand to punch at Tanya again. This time, the strike connected, catching the silver-haired martial artist in the cheek. The blow forced Tanya to stagger and release Hisui’s hand. The Japanese-American fighter then launched another punch, connecting with the other side of Tanya’s face and forcing her back. Seeing her chance, Hisui moved in, whirling around for a spinning thrust kick at Tanya’s jaw. Her target saw the kick coming, however, and managed to jump over the attack. She planted both feet on Hisui’s face, propelling herself into the air while slamming the younger fighter hard into the ground.

Tanya landed on the ground, turning to Hisui. She took a second to spit into her gi’s sleeve, leaving a small red stain in the cloth, before crossing her arms again.

“Not bad, not bad. I’ll give you a six-out-of-ten for those punches. Pretty good impact on ‘em. Guess those boards weren’t weak after all.”

Hisui shakily got to her feet. Having her head drilled into the ground took its toll on her, and she spent a few seconds shaking the dizziness from her head. Once she felt she was clear enough to continue, she took on a new stance: standing straight up, both arms held out at an angle in front of her. She took a deep breath.

_ Okay, that’s it. I can’t keep this to myself anymore. I have to use it. _

Another deep inhale. “That’s just the beginning. Why don’t you try attacking me? See where that gets you?”

Tanya smirked, swiping a thumb across her nose. “Sure, if you insist.”

With that, Tanya darted forward. Hisui, too focused on what she was trying to do, was blindsided by Tanya’s incredible speed. The silver-haired fighter launched an open palm blow to Hisui’s chest. The impact from the blow threw Hisui back a couple of steps before she stopped herself. She quickly fell back into stance.

“Okay,” she wheezed slightly, “that happened. Bet you can’t do it again.”

Tanya doesn’t respond, instead choosing to dash in again. This time, she launches a hard kick toward Hisui. The younger girl, however, smirked.

“Gotcha.”

“Huh?”

Before her kick could make contact, Tanya felt herself suddenly stop. She looked at her leg, only to see an unusual sight: arcs of electricity danced between Hisui’s forearms, trapping the older fighter’s leg in place.

“What’s this?” Tanya asked, more confused than anything. It wasn’t the fact that Hisui suddenly had super powers. In this world, it wasn’t unheard of. Many people around the world learned, at one point in their lives, that they had the ability to control their Ki. While Tanya wasn’t one of those people, she knew that it tended to be martial artists that had the most control over these abilities.

No, what surprised her was the question she asked herself.

_ Why doesn’t this hurt? _

Hisui chuckled a bit, though it came out more strained than amused. Tanya noticed that, while Hisui had already been a little sweaty from the action before, she was suddenly much more covered than before. She was also shaky on her feet.

“Like my Lightning Trap?”

Before Tanya could answer, Hisui did the one thing Tanya had done to her multiple times over the course of the fight: swept her standing leg. Tanya hit the mats hard, though rolled away as soon as Hisui released the Lightning Trap and freed her leg. On release, Hisui lurches forward a bit, breathing heavily again.

Tanya quickly got to her feet. For the first time in the match, she took on a more traditional fighting stance, with her fists raised. Her usual smirk, which often taunted and infuriated her opponents, now shone with excitement.

“Hell yeah! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!”

Hisui shook her head again, fighting another bout of dizziness away.

“Yeah, I’ll bet. And there’s more where that came from, if you want it!”

“Bring it!”

Hisui took a second to make sure she was okay to continue before breaking into a run. Tanya, her fists still raised, didn’t move an inch. She watched as the TKD fighter closed the gap between them, preparing for whatever she might do. Once Hisui was within a couple of steps, she leaped high into the air, bringing one foot high above her head. Tanya watched as Hisui prepared to come down on her with an axe kick. She felt her excitement grow as, while Hisui went higher and higher, the raised foot began to crackle with electric energy. At the peak of her jump, Hisui brought the kick down, and the built up energy came crashing down like a thunderbolt, ready to fry it's target.

Unfortunately, just as she did, Tanya quickly sidestepped the attack. Once Hisui was low enough to the ground, she delivered a devastating elbow smash into the girl’s abdomen. The blow knocked the air out of Hisui’s lungs, and instead of simply landing on her feet, Hisui crashed hard onto the ground. She gagged heavily, trying to force air onto her lungs.

Tanya watched the girl, waiting to see what she did next. It quickly became clear that the answer was nothing, and so she allowed herself to relax.

“Hey, you okay?”

Hisui doesn’t answer. She instead struggled to get to her feet, gasping for breath as she did. It took several moments, but eventually Hisui managed to breathe again. She pushed herself off the ground, trying to will her wracked body to her feet. Her muscles, however, strained between the lack of oxygen and the effort needed for Ki use. Just as she gets her feet under her, her body gives out, and Hisui collapses onto all fours, panting. Sweat rains down from her, and her vision is blurry.

Tanya, seeing her fellow martial artist struggling so much, walked over to her.

“Hey, take it easy. Don’t overexert your body; you’ll only end up injuring yourself. Let’s call it quits here, okay?”

“...you were right.”

The weak voice caught Tanya off-guard. “Huh?”

“Back there,” Hisui says, her voice strained, “with those guys. You were right. I screwed up. I thought I could handle them, and I couldn’t. You were right about me. I can’t really defend myself in a real fight. I’m sorry for getting so angry with you, and thank you for jumping in.”

Tanya knelt down by Hisui. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault, anyway. Those guys were just punks. Besides, when I stepped in, I was hoping I’d get a fun fight.”

“So, did you?”

“Heh,” Tanya chuckled, “I was about to when you started using those electric moves. Then that last hit happened.”

Hisui quietly laughed to herself. “Dammit. Can’t even let me have that, can you?”

Tanya, laughing, gently patted Hisui on the head. “Can ya blame me? The rumors were right, ya know. If you really started training right, you could really be a fierce fighter. Especially with those electric attacks of yours.”

“Thanks. Hey, about that offer from earlier?”

“Hm?”

“The one where you said you’d train me? Is that still open?”

Tanya scratched at her cheek. “Uh, well, about that. I didn’t actually say I’d train you. Besides, I’m not that experienced with Taekwondo. Sure, there’s a bit of it in Anything Goes Martial Arts, but I don’t think it’s enough to really help you improve on your Taekwondo. Why, did you really wanna do that?”

Hisui nodded, her breathing finally slowing to a normal pace. “Yeah, I need the help if I’m going to enter the Martial Law Tournament in a few months.”

“’Martial Law Tournament’? What’s that?”

Hisui rolled herself over onto her backside, stretching out in a sitting position. She turned to look at Tanya with a questioning gaze.

“Are you even real? How do you live on this planet and not know what the Martial Law Tournament is?”

Tanya shrugged. “Been too busy with other stuff.”

Hisui rolled her eyes. “And here I thought people like you only existed in movies.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That the whole ‘wandering martial artist’ thing only works in movies and video games for a reason.”

Tanya waved a hand, sitting down next to Hisui. “It’s not like that. I was legit just in this city to find you. I was planning on taking a little vacation after this.”

“Uh huh,” Hisui said, “Anyway, it’s the world’s biggest martial arts tournament. It’s held on Martial Law Island just off the West Coast. Fighters from around the world compete for a huge prize: $15 million, and one realistic wish.”

Tanya thought about what Hisui said. If the other girl could see her eyes, she’d see how bright they’d become.

“Wow, that many fighters in one place? Sounds like Heaven on Earth to me.”

Hisui giggled. “Well, wait until you hear this. It’s not just the competitors that go. Martial arts schools from all over the world go too. They rent out buildings all over the island to show off their styles and recruit people that might be interested in learning them. There’s also all kinds of games, shows, food, and other stuff to do. It’s basically a huge festival.”

“Oh my God, that sounds amazing!” Hisui cringed slightly at how high pitched Tanya’s voice went. “So, why do you want to enter?”

Tanya looked over at Hisui, only to see her mood instantly darken.

“I don’t, really. I have to, though.”

“Why?”

Hisui sighed. “My dad was involved in a huge car accident a few months ago. He’s in a coma now, and the doctors are doing everything they can to keep him stable. They say they can do some surgeries and stuff to help him recover, but they’re expensive as hell. My mom wants to do them, but she’s worried about how much the medical bills will be afterward. I need to enter the tournament. If I get far enough in, I can win enough prize money to help cover everything. I’m not going to act like I can win it all. I highly doubt that I can. I just have to do well enough, is all.”

“Wow,” Tanya said sadly, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll just have to do the best I can.”

A few moments of silence passed while the two young women sat on the floor. Tanya took a deep breath before saying anything.

“Look, I already have a student that I’m training. But, I think I can make some time for you.”

Hisui looked at Tanya, who locked eyes with her.

“Really?”

“Yeah, but you’re gonna have to call me ‘sensei’ from now on.”

Hisui rolled her eyes, but giggled. “That’s gonna be weird. I’m not used to having a sensei. I’ll get used to it, though. Perks of being half-Japanese, I guess.”

Tanya grinned. “Well, you’re gonna have to get used to it, my little student.”

Another giggle. “I hate it already.”

Tanya popped up to her feet. “Alright then, let’s get started.”

Hisui pushed herself up, too. “Hai, sensei.”

“Tanya. Tanya-sensei.”

“So many regrets already.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you like what you’ve seen and want to keep up with the Internet’s Eternal Phenomenon, then be sure to follow me on social media! I’m on Twitter (@MysticDeadman), Instagram (@mystic_deadman), DeviantArt (MysticDeadman), Fanfiction (Mystic Deadman) and YouTube (Mystic Deadman)!


End file.
